Tuesday, June 3, 2014

May was a month of many thoughts. Thoughts about moving, thoughts about medical issues, with other thoughts mixed in from time to time : ) Sort of reminds me of dear Pooh Bear & his good friend Piglet, think-think-thinking as they so often would do.

I didn't get a whole lot stitched this month what with all that thinking going on, but I did mange to finish a couple things. I felt that I needed just a wee bit of a break from ornaments so decided to do something different. I chose a little "gotta stitch this before I die because it's so gorgeous" Christmas carol sampler. I have a soft spot in my heart for old English Christmas carols & fell in love with this design the moment I saw it.

Designer: Summer House Stitche Workes

Design: Hark, Hark, Hark!

Fabric: 40 ct Vintage Examplar linen
Floss: VMSS 1795 Dark Brass

The designer suggested using GAST Grecian Gold ... absolutely the ugliest overdyed floss color I have ever seen. Honestly, the name should be changed to Grecian Barf. The stitching in the model photo on the chart appears to be a beautiful deep, rich gold color. I have the entire collection of GAST threads, & when I pulled out my one skein of Grecian Gold, I should have known better than to order more because I looked at it & thought "they've got to be kidding." However, you know how flukey overdyed floss can often be from dye lot to dye lot ... & I needed 3 skeins of Grecian Gold floss for this design ... so I believed what my eyes were seeing in the model photo rather than what I was holding in my hands & as a result ordered 3 new skeins of Grecian Gold. When I opened the package, my stomach turned as my eyes beheld floss overdyed with a barfy looking off-shade of barfy looking yellow sort of blended with a pukey looking gag-inducing shade of barfy green. I had nightmares for a week afterward. Thankfully I looked at my VMSS 1795 collection & found the exact match to the floss as it appeared in the model photo. The sampler measures 11" x 11" & I will need to have it framed. I will have to send it away somewhere because I wouldn't trust anyone in TDP to frame it, so if you have any by-mail framers to recommend, please let me know.

After finishing the sampler, it was back to ornaments again. I stitched the ornament below for an exchange gift last year knowing I was going to have to make one for myself sometime. I think it's a wonderful design : )

Designer: The Primitive Hare

Design: Peace on Earth

from 2013 JCSCO

Fabric: 40 ct Old Massachusetts linen

Floss: As suggested by designer

Lastly, I had a hankerin' to stitch some primitive ornaments on osnaburg, so I went looking on PatternMart for a design I hadn't already stitched a bunch of times.

Designer: Primitive Stitchin'

Design: Potted Poinsettia Christmas Ornie

Fabric: Osnaburg

Floss: DMC as suggested

I had a larger than necessary square of osnaburg on which in April I had stitched the little Blessings reindeer you see upside-down there, so I stitched 3 of the poinsettia ornaments in the remaining space. I still need to primitively stain the osnaburg to really show off the design. Peace has been my quest this year which is why this little ornament particularly appealed to me : )

So there you have it ... my May finishes. Right now I'm working on another Christmas carol design. I'll have another floss story to tell you about this one, but you'll have to wait until next month when I post my June finishes : )

Lovely finishes, Shirlee! I especially like the "Hark" piece and think you chose the perfect floss to stitch it with! I'm hanging my head in shame as I have NO finishes to speak of lately....but you know I just keep piling the new starts on to my heap of WIP's! Eek!

Love these pieces! Have not seen Hark before, but it went on my wish list now! She is a good, new designer! I got a couple of her designs when she was a Myrtle Beach PALS last fall. She is really nice. Going to email you next... Hugs!

Love the finishes! I had to giggle, I know exactly the reaction you had to that Grecian Gold. I've had similar too. It's a really ugly color, IMHO. It actually reminds me of calf poop but I realize not everyone has that point of reference either. LOL!

Lovely finishes Shirlee. I really like the Hark piece and think the VMSS thread is perfect for it. I love her threads.I hope someone can recommend a framer for you. hope you are feeling well.Judy Heartland stitcher

I love your projects! I'm trying to learn what all the stitching acronyms mean - YMSS Threads? I'm clueless, & I just ordered the "Graecian Gold" for one of my own projects. When there is not a shop within traveling distance - we really are at the mercy of the web - wonderful thing that it is, there are a few drawbacks.